No Lights or Guages in a 84 K10

[82oldskid]

Ok, please bear with me on this, it will be kinda long, but I'm trying to give as much info as I can.
So a good friend of mine picked up an 84 K10, and its an electrical nightmare...  Some stuff works, but alot doesn't.  Here's what does seem to work:

Ignition, and starter, truck does run and drive.
Charging system
Headlights (high and low beams)
4-ways
Stoplights
Turn Signals

We have NO functioning gauges.  No tail lights.  No parking lamps.  No reverse lamps.  No interior illumination.  No dash illumination.  No wipers.

And to make this even more fun, the truck was originally a 6 cylinder, and is now a 350.  Its also a 4-speed manual, and from what I can tell, it was a manual before, yet it has an Auto column in it, and no factory holes in the cab for the clutch rods (they all look like they were cut open in some poor manor).

So, what I'm getting at is, where should we even start with this?  It's so hacked up, I'm on the verge of getting a new harness.  Thoughts?  Suggestions?  Please point me in some kinda direction.  Thanks in advance as always.

[bd]

Begin by removing and inspecting all of the fuses.  Inventory all the factory grounds, then disassemble, burnish and reassemble them using anti-oxidant.  Unless the cables are new, replace both battery cables with 2-gauge all copper cable.

Factory grounds (typical wire size):

• battery-to-engine (2-gauge)
  
  
• battery-to-right frame rail (12-gauge)
  
  
• battery-to-radiator support (12-gauge)
  
  
• cab-to-right rear cylinder head (10-gauge or 5/16" braided strap)
  
  
• dash appliances-to-cab sheetmetal next to park brake pedal assembly (18-gauge and 16-gauge)
  
  
• rear lamps-to-frame (16-gauge)

Once this is done, you have a known good base from which to work and expand your diagnosis as needed.

[CDog86]

That's what my advice would be. With a new harness you will not only have taken out the 25 or so year old wire but also you will know exactly what you have and where it goes. Much easier to make corrections(;

[82oldskid]

Well, we shall see what the weekend brings.  I was hoping to get to my garage last night and see what I could do, but I just couldn't muster up the energy after work.  bd, that does sound like a good plan, thank you for the suggestion.  I will try to tackle that this weekend, and see where it goes from there.  Probley won't update til Monday, as I rarely get on a computer anymore, and I'm not up with the times enough to have a smart phone.

[82oldskid]

Well, we did get the lights all working (except the reverse lights).  Turns out, it was the terminals in the fuse box for the lighting were bent open, and not making contact with the fuse.  So, that solved one problem.  And we figured out that the reverse lights are missiing the harness that goes from the firewall to the switch on top of the tranny.  So thats two.  No, we're delving into the wiring under the hood.  Making slow progress, but its turning out that most of it aint even hooked up and/or has been cut and spliced with mismatched wiring and wire nuts.  Prior owner was definitely no wiring genius.  Either way, as Johnny Cash sang it, "One Piece at a Time"!

[bd]

Keep plugging away, "One piece at a time," and it'll be done before you know it.   

[82oldskid]

Well, no progress since then.  Had to put it aside for more important problems, but since I'm here, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!